JP-- thanks, I just caught up on your work from this week too, absolutely beautiful.
Terry-- Yes, I noticed those holes, very clever solution. I actually thought it was factory-made that way.
Kevn-- That's not a bad idea, although I like the idea of keeping it as original as possible.
One thought I've had is to replace the fiberglass portion of the rock guard with either lexan, or perforated aluminum. The lexan would be see-through, the perf'd aluminum not so much.
Today I will start on creating an exterior patch to mount the awning bracket onto, and then putting the awning back together.
Maybe smoke-colored Lexan in place of the corrugated green fiberglass rockguard insert. It would certainly look better than what's there.
Here's a pic of another forum member's 1960's vintage smoke Lexan rock guard:
I like the aluminum approach best. I bet you will be able to see more through it than you think. certainly more than the original !
and thanks for the compliment!
JP
I dig the aluminum screen as well, but I think my wife is leaning toward the smoked lexan. Both are cool, and I think it will look good either way, but I'm a little ways off from worrying about it anyway.
I'm currently working on my roll-out awning, since the bracket popped off the last time I was out camping.
I didn't get a chance to work on it yesterday, but today I've stripped off all of the old sealer and cleaned up the opening. There were some old rivets that I drilled out, and then I put a 4" x 5" patch over the whole thing. I used .050 2024 T3, which is thicker than the existing panel, but I wanted something really solid to anchor the bracket onto. I used 20 rivets and a load of vulkem to hold the patch on, so hopefully it will be both firm, and leak-free. I also dipped each rivet in vulkem before fastening in place. It might be overkill, but if it is, I'm okay with that.
I'm letting all of that set up tonight, then tomorrow I'll go back through and trim the Olympics, and fasten the bracket onto the patched skin using heavy sheet-metal screws and a ton more vulkem. After getting the hardware finshed up in good shape, I need to replace the awning fabric, since the old fabric is finally starting to come apart now. The really good news is that Terry and Marie had already purchased some very nice awning fabric for it, and Cat passed that on to me since she never had a chance to install it.
It's going to look fantastic when I'm done. I'll post pictures of my progress so far, probably tomorrow.
I am going to give my two cents on the rock guard.... Loose it all together. Go for the look all the way through as you tow method. The chances of having a rock break your window while towing is so slight.Even if you break it you can just get a new piece at Lowes. I like that I can look right through my trailer as I am under way. That is just my opinion.
I am going to give my two cents on the rock guard.... Loose it all together. Go for the look all the way through as you tow method. The chances of having a rock break your window while towing is so slight.Even if you break it you can just get a new piece at Lowes. I like that I can look right through my trailer as I am under way. That is just my opinion.
I agree that it is nice to be able to see through your AS while towing. I had a solid aluminum guard made after I broke my window on a camping trip by tripping and putting my hand through 45 year old plate glass. I did not get hurt and I used duct tape (it matched-almost looked good) to tape over the screen for the ride home. Maybe I only need the rock guard while I'm set up in camp, and not towing.
__________________
Rick, JJ, Tommy, and Will
1961 26' Overlander International Land Yacht
WBCCI #9275
Wow, thanks to all of you for this thread! I have read any number of threads on here and it's always a great learning experience for the day when I will inevitably have my own rig, and this one was no exception.
But while it's a lot of fun and real interesting to read about how a TT gets s-l-o-w-l-y re-done, to have it change hands twice (and therefore to include three owners)?
Wow, thanks to all of you for this thread! I have read any number of threads on here and it's always a great learning experience for the day when I will inevitably have my own rig, and this one was no exception.
But while it's a lot of fun and real interesting to read about how a TT gets s-l-o-w-l-y re-done, to have it change hands twice (and therefore to include three owners)?
Priceless!
Again, thanks.
Hi there Aage, I'm glad you have enjoyed this thread. I did too when I first joined the Forums about 7 months ago-- I never dreamed that I'd eventually become a part of it.
Terry is obviously very well-known and well-respected on these Boards, and it's great to be able to continue with the Legacy that he and Marie began. I'm just glad that they have a new trailer that they are obviously enjoying, otherwise I'd have some pretty mixed emotions about owning Goliath.
And Cat and her husband were very gracious and kind, and I feel for them that they were forced to sell, when they were so obviously enjoying the trailer. But given Cat's bubbling enthusiasm for the trailer, I have no doubt that they will own another Airstream in the near future.
As for me, I have some big plans for this fine rig. As soon as we get a couple more outings wedged in this Fall, I will begin some major work on the rear end of the trailer. There is some floor rot under the tub, and some corresponding frame rot beneath that, both of which are quite common for trailers of this age, and of this particular era. It will require a full floor replacement for at least the rear 4' of the trailer, and I'll need to cut out the rusted cross-member and weld in a new piece. At the same time, I'll go ahead and redo some of the cabinetry in the rear end of the trailer where it has aged a bit, and I also plan to redo the plumbing at that time, and make some modifications in the bedroom area as well.
That will be it for this Winter, and then I'll be camping again as soon as possible. Then more plans for the galley and front lounge, but those will most likely have to wait until the Winter of 2009/2010.
So please feel free to stick around, I'll update this thread and my blog as often as possible, although I expect I won't have much to report until the Fall starts winding down a bit.
Okay, I've made some good progress, but now I need some help. So far, I have made the patch, cleaned it up, mounted the awning bracket-- but now I need to change out the old fabric for new. I've looked through the awning sub-forum and can't find anything that applies exactly to this style of awning, which is an EZ-Awn.
Many of the instructions mention removing the arms, but mine won't come off. So I'm not sure if I need to remove the casting but hold the roller still so it won't spin crazily as the spring releases its potential energy...?
Okay, I've made some good progress, but now I need some help. So far, I have made the patch, cleaned it up, mounted the awning bracket-- but now I need to change out the old fabric for new. I've looked through the awning sub-forum and can't find anything that applies exactly to this style of awning, which is an EZ-Awn.
Many of the instructions mention removing the arms, but mine won't come off. So I'm not sure if I need to remove the casting but hold the roller still so it won't spin crazily as the spring releases its potential energy...?
Here are some pictures:
Marcus -
IIRC you need to remove the casting from the arm to get the roller out -that rusty metal rod will then pop out of the cast piece.
Drill out that rusty rivet(or screw?) in your third pic to remove the cast piece from the arm.
I see in your last pic that you (or Terry?) reinforced the mounting point - very good, that was a point of weakness on mine. Another thing to check is the cast piece itself that attaches to the trailer body. I had a couple break on me while in transit - not an enjoyable experience.
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